I keep hearing about more and more incentives from health departments, municipalities, businesses, and state government to get more people motivated into getting vaccinated against COVID-19. As it stands, currently here in New York State, the COVID Vaccine Tracker reports (updated at 10am on 5/26), 52.5% of New York State residents 18 or older have completed at least one dose of the vaccine and 55.5% of those 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

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Locally, the vaccine tracker says:

For Otsego County - 27,030 residents are fully vaccinated, 30,307 have completed one dose. As of 2019, the county population was around 59,500 according to the National Census Bureau.

For Delaware County - 18,970 have had at least one dose and 16,533 are fully vaccinated. As of 2019, the population in the county was around 45,000.

For Chenango County - 22,160 have had at least one dose and 19,545 are fully vaccinated. As of 2019, the population in the county was almost 48,000.

As you can see by the numbers, New York has a way to go to get to a place where most residents are vaccinated. That's why Governor Andrew Cuomo is offering an incentive targeted at young people aged 12 to 17. NY State will give away as many as 50, full, four-year college scholarships which includes tuition, room and board, books and supplies to any New York State public college or university.

Parents or guardians of kids in this age group should know that they can enter their child who has received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine dose (at any time) to get into the drawings for one of the scholarships. At this point in time, parents will just sign up to receive a notification from the state on when and how to apply.

Visit forms.ny.gov/s3/Get-Notified-When-Lottery-Registration-Begins to get on the notification list.

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